Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on ABEV. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $2.88 price target on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.69.

Ambev Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ABEV opened at $3.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ambev has a 12-month low of $1.87 and a 12-month high of $3.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.46.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 17.75%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.049 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1,465.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 22nd. Ambev’s payout ratio is 183.33%.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ambev by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,235,000 after buying an additional 14,468,963 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Ambev by 291.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 45,462,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,293,000 after purchasing an additional 33,842,540 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Ambev by 12.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,864,844 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Ambev by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,288,000 after buying an additional 2,479,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in Ambev by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 22,600,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,822,000 after buying an additional 874,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Company Profile

Ambev (NYSE: ABEV) is a Brazilian-based beverage company that produces, distributes and markets a broad portfolio of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The company’s core business centers on brewing and selling beer, alongside a range of soft drinks, bottled water, energy drinks and other malt-based beverages. Headquartered in São Paulo, Ambev operates an integrated value chain that covers manufacturing, packaging, logistics and commercial sales to retail, on-premise and institutional customers.

The company traces its origins to the 1999 merger of two historic Brazilian breweries, and later became part of the broader global brewing group through subsequent industry consolidations.